Money purchase annual allowance meaning

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES TO MONEY PURCHASE ARRANGEMENTS FROM 6 APRIL 2015 From 6 April 2015, new pension flexibilities expanded the retirement choices for DC members and others with ‘flexible benefits’ (in essence, money purchase and/or cash balance entitlements). As part of those reforms, drawdown became more broadly accessible. For background on the changes implemented on 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Pension freedoms—an introduction [Archived]. This Practice Note concentrates on the legal framework for drawdown arrangements set up on and after 6 April 2015. It also addresses how pre-April 2015 drawdown is treated from that date. For the rules governing drawdown before 6 April 2015, see Practice Note: Drawdown between 6 April 2011 and 5 April 2015 [Archived]. What is drawdown? The label ‘drawdown pension’ (often called ‘flexible income’) replaced ‘unsecured pension’ and ‘alternatively secured pension’ used up to 5 April 2011. Drawdown pension describes the method of paying benefits that allows members to set their own yearly income from a pension arrangement...

Being a member of an occupational or personal pension scheme allows individuals to utilise tax reliefs throughout their working life to build a retirement pension. This Practice Note outlines, in broad terms, the principal areas where members can maximise available tax reliefs to improve their retirement benefits. It highlights the following features and, where relevant, flags certain pitfalls to avoid: pensionable earnings personal contributions their interaction with the annual allowance Previous discussions of these topics would have referred to the lifetime allowance charge and the lifetime allowance; the lifetime allowance charge was abolished with effect on and from 6 April 2023, and the lifetime allowance itself was abolished with effect on and from 6 April 2024. Further information is available at PTM164100 - Information and administration: overview of the information requirements in respect of the lifetime allowance. Pensionable earnings For employer and individual contributions to registered pension schemes to attract tax relief, those contributions must be calculated by reference to...

THIS PRACTICE NOTE APPLIES IN RELATION TO OCCUPATIONAL PENSION SCHEMES What are additional voluntary contributions? Additional Voluntary Contributions (AVCs) are contributions that members of occupational pension schemes choose to pay, beyond those required by the scheme rules, which therefore give the member extra benefits on top of the basic benefits of the relevant scheme. The nature of benefits funded by AVCs is determined by the scheme’s rules. They may provide extra defined benefits (often referred to as ‘added years’), but in most instances AVC entitlements build up on a money purchase basis. Why distinguish them from other contributions? For several purposes the contributions, and the benefits purchased with them, are treated as a distinct class separate from normal contributions and benefits. In some areas this produces more restrictive treatment than applies to other benefits; in others, more favourable rules apply. Notably, on a winding up of the pension scheme, funds arising from AVCs have been handled differently from other scheme assets. This reflects that not every...